Germany: The corona crisis continues

According to a study the ongoing corona crisis means that many consumers prefer to forego larger purchases. Some people have less income, others don't enjoy shopping because of the corona measures. The corona crisis continues to slow consumers' desire to buy in Germany. Every fifth German citizen is currently consciously spending less on shopping than usual, the market research company "Nordlight Research" reported in its current "Trendmonitor Germany" based on a survey of 1,067 consumers. Larger purchases in particular, would be put on hold. According to the survey, the decreased desire to buy has at least two causes. On the one hand, a third of households say they have less income than before the onset of the crisis. On the other hand, two-thirds of the respondents state that shopping in brick-and-mortar retail is currently less fun than before Corona.

Online retailers benefit from a mask requirement

The majority of consumers (59 percent) are particularly bothered by the obligation to wear a mask. Around 45 percent said that they are less likely to shop in stores because of the requirement to wear a mask. Only a little under a quarter of the consumers surveyed indicated that their shopping behaviour had largely returned to normal after the shops reopened. While the stationary trade suffers from the mask requirement, online shopping could benefit. According to the survey, almost three quarters (72 percent) of consumers currently shop online at least once a month. For comparison: before the crisis, it was 67 percent. Nevertheless, market researchers do not expect any special crisis bonus for online retailers in the future. Just like before the crisis, around one in five consumers intend to shop online a little more in the future than in traditional shops, they reported. In contrast, according to the survey, 18 percent of consumers want to reduce their online purchases - in favor of brick-and-mortar retail. Before the crisis, 16 percent said so. The majority of consumers just want to stick to their familiar shopping routines anyway. You might also be interested in:

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